


Sunglass facade

by Adagal



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Based on a Vocaloid Song, Friendship, Gen, Musicals, the setting is like a pseudo nyc btw, uhhhhh what else do i tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28144500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adagal/pseuds/Adagal
Summary: Miku auditions for a role in an upcoming musical. Problem is, it's one that's always gotten terrible reviews from critics. With the help of her friends and partners, can Miku save the show?
Relationships: Hatsune Miku & Meiko
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I based this story off the song "Jitterbug" by Hachiya Nanashi. Please take a listen to it, it's so good and has a great 1930's feel to it!

With a tug of her jacket and a swing of her purse, Miku sauntered out her door into the open air of the city. The sights and smells she recognized for long since and after she first moved there, remained present for another day. Her hair sat in a low ponytail, her bangs pushed back by a couple barrettes. Today was her lazy day, so she decided it would be a good day to hit up the shops once more.

Her first stop, the bookstore. They didn't sell just books, but it was still a comfy place for Miku to browse, and feel as though she was back at home. She bought a few cases of hibiscus and matcha tea, along with a new mystery novel to read in her down time at home before she walked out.

Stop number two, the bakery. Miku always internally chastised herself for going there once a week, but she couldn't help herself. The goods they had were always too good to turn down. She ended up purchasing a loaf of bread and a small bag of blueberry scones to get her through the week ahead.

Final stop of the morning, the Briona Boutique. A small corner shop, but had some of the greatest quality clothing Miku could find that also fit within her budget. While she didn't stop there all the time, she was looking for some new pants, of which she ended up buying a pair of jeans and a pair of yoga pants respectively.

Feeling her morning was nice and productive, Miku started to traverse back home to store her recent purchases before the edible goods became too heavy or spoiled in her bags. Suddenly, a poster on the nearby stoplight caught her attention.

"Musical Auditions!" it read in bold letters. "Come audition for the chance of a lifetime, in Little Busy City! Friday at 3pm, Saturday at 5pm! Must be at least 16 to audition! Anyone under 18 must be supervised by a parent or guardian."

Miku shrugged her shoulders at the last bit, considering she herself was 18. She'd never heard of the musical mentioned there, maybe it was a new one? Nevertheless, Miku took a snapshot of the flyer with her phone, marking down the Saturday date in her phone. Considering the date was Saturday, she'd still have a few hours to prepare. Then realizing she was still carrying her new clothes and food, Miku speed-walked as fast as she could back home.

* * *

The Tulip Street Theatre wasn't remarkable in any big ways. The Magic and Music Theatre took that prize, it was considered to be one of the greatest theaters in the nation even. Tulip Street in comparison was more like a discounted version. But none of that mattered much to Miku now, as she walked through the doors, the snapshot she took of the flyer hours earlier wrapped in her hand.

A small crowd of other people were already in the auditorium as Miku walked in. Three people sat in the front row, Miku assumed they were the directors or something like that, who were holding the auditions. In the next few rows sat who Miku assumed were the others auditioning. The most notable ones to her included a pair of siblings sat next to each other, chatting quietly amongst themselves. A woman with short brown hair sat next to a younger woman with longer, pink hair. The two of them chatted about something, but the pink haired woman looked bored with the conversation. A girl with short green hair swiped idly on her phone, while a man with blue hair read a book. A young girl with a large, blue hat sat next to a man with long, purple hair, who Miku assumed must've been her guardian. Overall, not too many as she first expected, but still a decent amount of people. She assumed she would, either way, have some competition during auditions.

Miku, not knowing what to do now, simply sat down in one of the middle rows, clutching her purse to her stomach, waiting for 5pm to hit. Eventually, the time changed to 5pm, and a few seconds later, one of the women in the front row stood up, addressing the attendees.

"Welcome everyone," she said. "Thank you for choosing to attend the auditions for Little Busy City. This may be the last day, but don't let that discourage you from getting the part you're hoping for! Allow us to introduce ourselves." By her words, the other two people stood up.

"I'm Miriam, the choreographer for the show. The two people next to me are Tonio, the director, and Prima, the assistant director and partial vocal coach. We'll be watching your guys' auditions and judging them. Everyone get to the stage and line up, and Prima will hand out the scripts."

Quickly, everyone scuttled out of their seats and lined up on the stage. Once it looked sufficient enough, the woman known as Prima walked up with a stack of scripts, handing them out to each individual. Miku stared at the cover, the words LITTLE BUSY CITY printed in big bold letters, like on the flyer. This time however, there was a picture of a cafe below it.

"These aren't the final versions, mind you," Prima explained, her voice containing a light Italian accent. "Just in case you were wondering why they weren't as thick as you were expecting. These are more so audition packets actually. They contain a selection of parts you may choose to audition for. Read them over, we'll give you about 10 minutes."

Miku thumbed through the packet, each side of the pages containing a character's name and about a paragraph of their lines. After a minute, Miku decided on the character of "Macy McIntire", a hard working farm girl trying to get big in the city. The paragraph beneath contained this big optimistic speech Macy did at some point. Miku wasn't sure if she should do a country accent with it, but she could always give it a shot.

Once the 10 minutes were up, Miriam clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"We shall now divide ourselves into groups. Doesn't matter which you choose first, as everyone will do both tonight. If you want to learn the audition dance first, stand by me. Anyone who wants to learn the audition song first may go with Prima. 2 minutes to sort yourselves out, people."

Quickly, everyone scrambled next to who they would go with first. Miku decided she might as well get it out of the way and go with Prima first, although she never was much of a singer. Glancing over the other people who were in her group, she saw, among the few others, the young girl with her guardian, and the siblings.

"Alright everyone, follow me," Prima called to Miku's group. They were taken to what looked like a band room with all the chairs and music stands.

"Take your seats, I'll explain once everyone sits down."

As Miku shifted around in her seat, Prima went over the sheet music and lyrics on the music stand in front of them. She then sat down in front of a piano and linked out a few opening chords.

"We'll start with warm ups first," she said. "Now follow my lead."

Whatever Miku was thinking she was going to be doing, vocal warm ups was the one she forgot she would've had to do. She'd been in school choir enough to know she was going to have to stretch her vocal chords to breaking. Then again, that was back in fifth grade, and her voice, she hoped at least, had matured since then.

Lucky for her, the warm ups weren't as bad as she'd expected. And the song itself was pretty cute, it was a little lullaby. Once 20 of singing had passed, Miku's group collected the papers they saw on the music stands, and switched off to Miriam.

The group was now on stage once again, but this time to learn the audition dance. Miriam seemed to have already switched out her previous shirt and jeans for a tank top and yoga pants. When she did that and how quickly, Miku had no clue.

"Alright, I hope your time with Miss Prima went well. Your vocal chords have been worked, now it's time for the rest of your bodies," Miriam said. "Take a few minutes to stretch while I get the song queued up, and we'll begin."

Miku took the time to stretch out her arms, legs, and back until Miriam called everyone back to begin learning the dance.

"Alright, we're gonna start with crossing your right leg, turn around, and clap," Miriam began. And so also began one of the toughest dances in Miku's life. She thought she had pretty long legs and decent dancing experience already, but the stuff her legs had to go through was something she would most definitely never forget.

"Real auditions will be on Thursday. I'll now pass around a clipboard for you to put down emails so we can update you if you want to attend future rehearsals," Miriam explained once the dance was over.

Miriam gave the clipboard and a pen to the little girl's guardian, which he quickly jotted down onto the paper, then passed to the next person on stage. The paper went down the line, until it hit Miku.

Miku was surprised to see not too many email addresses on the paper, aside from the ones she knew had jotted them down for Miriam. Slowly, she dragged the pen across the next line down, willing to be a bigger part of the project. As she was the last one to be handed the clipboard, she passed it back to Miriam, who seemed pleased by the signatures.

"Good. Feel free to head back to your seats, we'll wait for the others to return so we can finish up here," Miriam said.

Miku plopped down in the seat she left her purse, heaving a long sigh. It seemed like most of the others felt the same. The little girl sat down in her guardian's lap, resting her eyes. He patted her on the head, and Miku couldn't help but smile.

Before long, the other group returned to their own seats, for Miriam to address everyone.

"Thank you all for coming to this rehearsal for auditions. Don't forget, Thursday is the official audition date. Keep on practicing until then, an I'm sure you'll have that role in your grasp before you know it. Now you don't have to go home, but ya can't stay here. Get out, yall!"

Everyone stood up and started to leave, thanking Miriam and the others. Miku yawned as she left the building, stretching her arms out to the sky. She enjoyed the rehearsals after it was all said and done, and she now waited for the day she could properly audition, and hopefully achieve the role of Macy McIntire. But until then, she would start practicing her butt off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall, just a little heads up- there is a choking scene here, but it's not really that tense I think. just wanted to let yall know :)

Thursday. Date of initial auditions. Miku swirled her hair up in a high bun for what she knew would come next, First would be speaking auditions, then dancing, and then finally, singing, as stated in the email she got the day after rehearsals. Since Miku realized she was essentially auditioning for the main character, she'd have to take part in all three. Miku could only pray her vocal cords would be up to the task.

Her legs striding briskly, Miku once again headed up to the Tulip Street Theatre. A paper on the front door confirmed that yes, it was time for auditions. Miku took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors.

Once again, it seemed like she was the last one to arrive, as everyone else was sitting in the auditorium. Audition time wouldn't start for another five minutes, so Miku picked another seat to plop down in to bide her time. Some of the people she saw the previous week were there again, at least everyone she assumed who really wanted to be a part of it.

Five minutes passed like they were nothing, and then Miku noticed Tonio stand up this time to speak. Much like Prima, he had a slight Italian accent in his words.

"Thank you all for showing up to auditions. We know it's not many, but it's many to us. Everyone who's going for speaking auditions may come up to the stage now."

Tonio sat down as Miku stood up and walked to the stage, noticing almost everyone else, save for two people, walked up to the stage with her. _This would surely be a long day,_ thought Miku.

Prima now took the chance to talk. "Hopefully you all memorized your parts. Miss Otomachi, we'll start with you."

The girl with the big hat Miku remembered from last time gulped. Her guardian patted her on the back, ushering her to go ahead.

"Oh momma, look!" the girl shouted in a stronger voice than Miku had expected. And from the looks of the others, they weren't expected it as well.

"There's a new store opening up in the square!" she continued. "You think we could have a look at it tomorrow? Aw, but momma... We never get to do what I wanna do, it's always 'business this' and 'business that' whenever we head into town! Can I at least head to the toy store with Gracie? Yes, momma."

As the child finished her last line, everyone applauded, save for Tonio, Miriam, and Prima, who wrote stuff down on sheets of paper.

"Thank you very much, Miss Otomachi. You may head back to your seat now. Mr. Kamui, you're up next. Go whenever you're ready."

The girl's guardian, Mr. Kamui then stepped up and gave his paragraph of audition about his character chastising someone. When he finished, a woman named Miss Megpoid gave her lines, then the siblings went, a few more people later and finally, it was Miku's turn.

"You're up Miss Hatsune. Start when you're ready," Prima said.

Miku took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and...

 _COUGHCOUGHCOUGH!!!_ Miku hacked mercilessly into her elbow, oh why did it have to be now? She could feel everyone staring at her, judging her. When the coughing fit was over, Miku cleared her throat.

"Sorry about that," she croaked out, much to her horror. She put a hand to her throat, her face practically screaming, _For the love of god I did not mean for this to happen._

"Are you alright?" Mr. Kamui asked. "I have a few spare throat drops if you want them." Miku nodded quickly. Mr. Kamui dashed down the steps to his backpack, which he grabbed a bunch of small objects, and ran back up to hand them to Miku. They were small, red throat drops that tasted like cherry and honey when Miku popped them into her mouth. She bowed to Mr. Kamui in thanks.

"Miss Hatsune, would you be ok with us moving to dance auditions if you can't speak right now?" Prima asked. The words felt like a knife to Miku's heart, but she nodded in response anyway.

"Alright, anyone who's finished here may leave, everyone else stay to start dancing auditions," Miriam announced.

Two people went to the auditorium seating to sit down, and the two people who were sitting in the audience previously now sat up and strode over to the stage.

"Hopefully everyone practiced the dance," Miriam chuckled. "I'll play the song in a few seconds, everyone be ready."

Miku got in the line she'd been in during practice last week, and the second the song came on, she went through the moves like she'd practiced for hours on end. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten she still had cough drops bouncing around in her mouth, and eventually one got caught in her throat.

Her legs buckled and hands around her neck, Miku started gagging, cutting out the song and getting everyone nervous.

"Hatsune?" the brown haired woman yelled. Miku didn't answer, her hands still gripping her neck, her tongue trying to unlodge the stuck cough drop. The woman dashed up behind Miku, and proceeded to give her the Heimlich until the cough drop shot out of her mouth and onto the floor of the stage. Miku took a deep breath before coughing out uncontrollably.

"Are you ok, Hatsune?" the woman inquired. Miku gasped for air a few seconds longer before giving a weak thumbs-up.

"Miss Hatsune, do you want to sit down for a bit?" Miriam asked. Once again, it felt like a spear pierced itself through Miku's chest. She was making an outright fool of herself in front of everyone, and she practiced her part so hard...

"I'll help you there if you want," the brown haired woman said, leading Miku to her auditorium seat by the hand.

"I'll get the song started up again," Miriam said quietly, tapping on her phone a few times.

Though not in anyone's view, Miku started crying. She felt so humiliated. What made it even worse was they ended up starting the singing auditions without her too! Miku tried to subside the pain by just playing a game on her phone, or playing her own music to drown everything else out, but it didn't help. Nothing helped, even when the auditions were finally over. The brown haired lady and Mr. Kamui did stop by to say they hoped she was ok and they felt bad for what happened to her as they left, but although Miku appreciated their kindness, it couldn't take back what she did to herself. Dejected, she stood up to go home when...

"Miss Hatsune, can we talk to you?" Miku turned around to hear Tonio's voice. Her face went cold from the fear of what may happen next.

"Yeah, totally!" she said, trying to hide the tremble in her tone.

"You're not in trouble, if that's what you're worried about," he explained. "From the sound of it, your voice is better. Would you be ok with doing your own audition now?"

Miku's heart jumped a beat. "Yeah, sure! Thank you so much!" she squealed. The crew chuckled, gesturing for Miku to run on stage and do her thing.

Miku hopped up the steps, planted her feet firmly, took a deep breath and...

"I think that's where you're wrong, mister. I will hold my own here, I will pay my dues, and I will become a star one day, just you wait and see! The road may be long and treacherous, there may be naysayers like you yourself, but I know I can rise above it for my family and do great things! Just you wait and see!"

Miku decided against the country accent at the last second, and it seemed to be a good choice. Tonio, Prima, and Miriam applauded, as Miriam grabbed her phone again.

"Wonderful, Miss Hatsune! You up for the dance number now?" she questioned. Miku nodded and got in position, just as the song started up.

Through that and the singing audition, Miku thought she did pretty well. Prima then allowed Miku to pack up and head home, which is what she did, a smile on her face and hope in her heart. Maybe she didn't crush auditions, but she did them, and that was what mattered. Now to wait for the results.


	3. Chapter 3

An email was sent early in the morning. Miku saw it just as she woke up. It was the cast list. Almost instantly, her hand were shaking and dripping with sweat. How did she do? With a trembling finger, Miku opened up the email and...

She got the role of Macy McIntire! She did it! Now a cheering mess, Miku danced around her bedroom, waving her phone in the air.

"Can you keep it down a little, Miku? Some of us are trying to sleep in!" Miku heard her housemate's voice from across the hall, to which she stopped, a sheepish look on her face. _Sorry Neru,_ she thought.

But Neru or no Neru, that still didn't matter, because she got Macy! The lead role, the email even said! Miku silently pumped her fists in the air in celebration.

The next practice was tomorrow, so Miku pretty much had the whole day to herself. She decided this time to spend some of it at the library. It'd give her some time to be out but still unwind with a good book, so that's what she did.

It was a little cooler out today, so Miku picked out a jean jacket to wear over her shirt and skirt. Popping a couple breath mints, she walked out the front door and down the street.

* * *

The library was smaller than one might expect, but it was still pretty nice. Two floors, with kids stuff on the bottom, and the adult books on the top, along with a video game console that the high school kids mainly played with. Miku climbed the stairs to the top floor, her previously bought book clutched in her arms.

Just as she was about to plop down into a chair, Miku's eyes fell upon a certain brown haired woman sitting on the couch near the video game console. She seemed to stare off into space, though she held an open book in one of her hands. Nonchalantly, Miku stepped over to the couch, and sat down on the other end of it. Quickly, she buried her face into the first chapter of her own book, hoping the other woman didn't notice.

"Hatsune?"

Miku's heart jumped. She noticed after all.

"Oh, hello, uh..." Miku's voice trailed off.

"Call me Meiko," the woman introduced happily.

"Hi then, Meiko. How are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

"Oh, good, yeah. Uh, did you see the cast list for Little Busy City?"

"Yeah. Congrats, by the way. But I personally wouldn't get too excited if I were you."

Miku's face went from 'trying to be natural' to 'legitimately concerned'. "Why's that?"

"I dunno how long you've been living here, but there's a reason hardly anyone shows up to those first rehearsals, and if they do, they always walk out," Meiko replied. Miku thought she also mumbled, "surprised there were so many people this time around."

"I've lived here for over a year now," Miku stated. Meiko's eyebrows lifted in surprise, but fell just as quickly.

"Publicity does rarely get around about that show is one thing, but that's also due to critics. The show always gets blasted with hate, it's like a tradition at this point. I'm surprised they've managed to keep it going for this long."

"And exactly how long have they been trying to get this musical off the ground?"

"About, say... 3 or 4 years."

"That long?!" Miku was shushed by one of the librarians from her outburst. She sheepishly put a hand to her mouth; oops. Though Meiko seemed to not care either way.

"Yep. I've been to rehearsals for every single one of them, every performance, and always as the exact same character. But every year, it's never been good."

"And they never thought on how to improve it?"

"No, the problem is Prima and the others are too far up their own asses to listen to or take criticism themselves. Trust me, I've tried to make suggestions throughout the years, but the answers were always, 'Oh I'll think about it', 'It's fine, we won't need that', 'That's not in the budget', etc. You see my point Hatsune?"

"You can just call me Miku. But yeah, I get it."

An uncomfortable silence washed over the two of them now, and while Miku tried to rid it by reading more of her book, Meiko just slid on a pair of sunglasses and walked away.

"Nice talking to you Miku. See ya tomorrow."

"Bye Meiko," Miku whispered, not taking her eyes off the end of the chapter. She heard the clunking of footsteps down the stairs, then nothing. It felt a little more comfortable now, and Miku was able to fully enjoy the rest of her story. But Meiko's words still circled around her brain.

* * *

The next day arrived, and rehearsal time just as quickly. Miku burst open the auditorium doors, rushing down the aisle. To her surprise, she was actually not the last one to arrive, that honor going to the sibling pair, who arrived just as Tonio welcomed everyone to the first rehearsal.

"Well, actually, more like the first script reading. We'll be going through as much of Acts 1 and 2 as we can today," Prima cut in. "Here's everyone's scripts, I'd recommend you highlight your parts as we go. Now everyone in a circle!"

As each person was handed their script, they sat down below the stage, as the set and prop crew had started working the same day. Miku was excited to see her own name on her own script finally, with its bright green cover and all.

"I'll narrate the stage directions, Prima will give you tips where need be. And we'll save the musical numbers for another time," Tonio declared. "Alright, let's begin!"

_Act 1, Scene 1. We open on a farm...._

_...Amelia twirls Macy around, holding her in her arms. They share a smile. Curtain drops._

"And that's it!" Prima announced. Everyone applauded.

"We're done for today! Thank you all so much! You guys don't have to go home, but ya can't stay here! Next rehearsal is tomorrow at 4pm!" Tonio said. Everyone stood up, gathered their things, and left the auditorium.

While Miku walked home, she ran through her parts in her mind. Meiko's words started to come back to her, and she realized why. It wasn't like the script was bad, but it was sort of boring for the most part. Character personalities seemed to flip flop around, the romance part felt a little forced in some places, and overall, the story wasn't much fun to get a hold of. It was a mystery to Miku why the directors wouldn't take better suggestions over this.

"Miss Miku!" The young girl, who Miku learned was named Una, ran up to her, pure joy on her face.

"I'm Una," she introduced. "I thought you were really good!"

"Aw, thanks!" Miku giggled. "I thought you were very good too."

"I'll see you tomorrow Miss Miku!"

"Goodbye, Una!" Miku and Una waved goodbye as Una's guardian, Mr. Gackupo, led her to their car. Despite how dodgy the script itself was, Miku couldn't deny that everyone gave it their all, even Meiko, who Miku knew couldn't care less at this point. Everyone seemed energetic, happy, in tune with their respective character, the script reading was fun all things considered. And though Meiko might've dampered Miku's views initially, she was pleased to know she had a good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry chrysler, happy holidays, have a new year everyone :)


End file.
